Hercules rig (Credit: Odfjell Drilling)
Portuguese oil and gas company Galp has reported the discovery of light oil in in an exploration well being drilled offshore Namibia with Hercules semi-submersible rig.
The news follows Galp’s January 2 update informing about preliminary signs of hydrocarbon presence at the Mopane-1X well, being drilled at Petroleum Exploration License 83 (PEL 83) block in Namibia’s Orange Basin.
Now, the company has confirmed the discovery of a significant column of light oil in reservoir-bearing sands of high quality.
Galp said it will continue to analyze the acquired data and anticipates performing a drill stem test (DST) in the coming weeks to assess the commerciality of this discovery.
The drilling operations at Mopane-1X, being conducted with the semi-submersible rig Hercules, will proceed to explore deeper targets. Upon completion, the rig will be relocated to the Mopane-2X location to further evaluate the extent of the Mopane discovery, according to Galp.
Galp, as the operator has 80% stake in PEL 83, with partners NAMCOR and Custos holding 10% each.
